EARLIER this week, dozens of developers and lenders trooped into the swish headquarters of the Citi Bank building on Dublin's north quays.

They paid more than €500 each for the one-day Institute of Bankers in Ireland course on what they need to finance a wind farm and how to negotiate the due diligence process.

Training sessions such as this are becoming increasingly common as banks wake up to the opportunities offered by wind farms for long-term investment and will make it easier for small groups of individuals to secure funding.

The training session, which was organised by Skillsnet and the Irish Wind Energy Association, is just one method of gaining expertise in the fast growing sector.

Other methods include a return to education with several third-level organisations offering tailor-made courses.

Letterkenny, for example, offers a wind energy course for unemployed engineers, while Tralee, Athlone, Tallaght and Galway all offer courses about the renewable energy sector.

While most of the courses available are offered by institutes of technology, they are aimed squarely at people with varying degrees of education from Leaving Certificate upwards.

This means the courses range from technician qualifications particularly suited to generating operations such as wind farm operations, to PhD research.